Chapter 1: The Parcel from Someone

'Severus... please...'
Snape raised his wand and pointed directly at Dumbledore.
'Avada Kedavra!'

Harry Potter woke up in his bed with a gasp. He had been having nightmares with images of the previous headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, dying. He reached for his glasses in the darkness as Hedwig started hooting at him madly.

"Hedwig, you'll wake everyone up! I'm in enough trouble already…" Harry muttered, rubbing his eyes. Hedwig grunted and closed her eyes trying to get some sleep.

"I knew Snape was with Voldemort all along. I just can't understand why Professor Dumbledore trusted him so much. Everyone can see that Snape is a Death Eater. I need to know why… I mean, he even used to be a Death Eater, right? All Death Eaters end up being bad," Harry thought to himself.

"Lumos," he said quietly, raising his wand from under the bed. He stayed under his blanket so that the light wouldn't escape.

Suddenly, he heard muffled voices coming from outside the door. His heart was beating rapidly.

"It must be Dudley. Yeah, Dudley, he always sleepwalks. Or maybe it's just the newspaper boy," he thought to himself. He held his wand tightly and walked out of his room.

He came close enough to the door that he could hear the voices.

"A-A-Are you p-p-positive this is Harry P-P-Potter's house? C-C-Can you read M-M-Muggle-" the first voice stuttered before being rudely interrupted by the second voice.

"Yeh I'm sur', yeh good fer nothin' feller. I've been her' befor'," the second voice said loudly, "now I want yeh to promise me tha' yeh won't go off tellin' all 'bout this. Understood?"

"You know I won't. I would n-n-never p-p-put young Harry P-P-Potter in any d-d-danger!" the first voice exclaimed.

"Yeh mus' not or yeh wil' face my wrath. I know plenty of good spel' an' yeh don't wan' to see me usin' them on yeh," the second voice threatened.

"I w-w-won't! Let's g-g-go now, before Harry wakes up-p-p," the first voice stuttered.

Harry opened the door cautiously, making sure that his aunt, uncle, and Dudley wouldn't wake up to see him walking out in the middle of the night. The people were gone, and all that was left was a small parcel. He read the label.

'To Harry Potter, from a friend'

Harry closed the door and headed back to his room, but a rather large hand grabbed his arm.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, BOY?" a large, beefy man yelled. He had a rather fat face with a short neck.

"Uncle Vernon, I came down to get a glass of water," Harry said coolly, hiding the parcel behind his back. Uncle Vernon didn't seem to notice as it was so dark.

"I DON'T WANT EXCUSES! GO TO YOUR ROOM! TOMORROW YOU WON'T BE HAVING BREAKFAST!" Uncle Vernon screamed.

"I'm the one who cooks breakfast," Harry complained.

Harry went back to his room, hiding the parcel underneath his shirt. He was unfortunate enough to be stuck with Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley this summer. His friends had promised to come to his house and take him to the Burrow, but he only managed to get a letter from Ron saying that he would see him as soon as possible.

"Lumos," he whispered, looking around to see if Uncle Vernon had woken up again to scream at him. Fortunately, he didn't.

"If only Sirius was alive... I'd write to him. He would help me out and give me advice," he thought, wiping away tears from his eyes. Sirius had been a good godfather who had died 2 years ago. He took out a small bottle of ink and a feather pen from his previous year and started writing a letter.

'Dear Ron,

I'm sorry if Hedwig delivers this in the middle of your sleep, but I thought I'd let you know. If your mum gets angry, tell her that I'm very sorry.

This is the last straw. I'm NOT staying here this summer. I want to go to the Burrow and stay with you, Ginny, and Hermione. Please tell me when you are going to come here to pick me up because I can't stand it any longer.

I'm also having nightmares about Professor Dumbledore… I just can't believe it happened to him out of all the people. The only one Volde---You-Know-Who has feared. It's just not right.

I'll tell my uncle and aunt that unless they let me go to the Burrow, I'll use magic and turn Dudley into a rat. They know it's illegal but they have seen me use magic before and are quite afraid.

Tell Ginny that I said 'hi', and give her a hug for me. I miss her so much and I hope she's having a good summer so far.

Oh and when you're coming here, try to use Muggle transportation. Last time, it didn't work out, did it? I don't want Uncle Vernon to start getting freaked out again.

I wish Snuffles was here, I miss him a lot too. I could have gone to live at Godric's Hollow with him. He was my legal guardian anyway… Or we could've gone to 12 Grimmauld Place and lived at his rightful house.

Best Regards,

Harry

P.S. I just got a strange parcel. I'm opening it. It doesn't say who it's from but I just wanted to let you know abou it.'

Harry folded up his letter, placed it in an envelope, and gave it to Hedwig. She hooted loudly and flew away. He impatiently ripped apart the wrapping of the parcel. There he saw a letter.

'Dear Harry,

You may not remember who I am, but I am a friend, no longer aDeath Eater. I am no longer supporting the Dark Lord. I owe you one for saving my life. Please have this Lusieve Attus. It has the magical power to detect dark magic up to 1 km away from you. Use it well.

From a friend.'

Attached to the letter was a big circular object that resembled a compass used by Muggles. It acted like somewhat of a tracking device, and it was beeping with a small red dot not too far away from him. Harry was fascinated by the Lusieve Attus and wondered who was with Rubeus Hagrid, a good friend and professor at Hogwarts, was with.

"-magical power to detect dark magic up to 1 km away- Voldemort must be getting closer... and stronger…," Harry whispered. It was then that the red dot disappeared. The only thing left on the Lusieve Attus was a green dot who represented himself.

He knew he wasn't supposed to leave by himself during the night, but he couldn't resist his curiosity to go see what was happening. Hedwig wouldn't be back for another 30 minutes or so, and he wasn't in the mood to sleep. He reached out for his invisibility cloak, put it on, and quietly walked out the door.

All the lights on the street, however, were out. They were normally on, which Harry knew that meant that the wizard(s) who used Dark Magic on the street didn't want Muggles to know that they were there.

Harry suddenly saw a group of hooded black creatures standing in the middle of the street. He walked as slowly and quietly as he could, avoiding anything that could detect him. It was strange that his scar didn't hurt, as it always hurt before when Voldemort was here. Harry was, however, ready to duel with him anytime. He wasn't afraid of the wizard whom he faced several times before.

"What could this be... Voldemort's Death Eaters?" he thought to himself.

Soon, all the hooded figures vanished from what seemed like Apparition, but a body was lying motionlessly on the street. He was unsure of whether or not to approach it, in case it was all a set-up trap by Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Clutching his Invisibility Cloak and wand tightly, he walked up to the body on the floor.

Harry fell onto his knees, with tears in his eyes. He felt a rush of anger in his body.

"Not him… No, it can't be! Oh, please say he's alive!" Harry cried.